In a report analysing the performance of the Department of Health’s National Chlamydia Screening Programme, the NAO said the programme had "not demonstrated value for money" and that its delivery programme through primary care trusts (PCTs) had resulted in "duplication and inefficiency".
The report added that in 2008/09 – six years after the launch of the programme – testing levels were "only just beginning to reach the point where they are likely to significantly reduce the prevalence of chlamydia".
It added that, in 2007/08, only 4.5 per cent of under-25s were being tested under the programme, against a target of 15 per cent.
But the report said that, after the Department of Health made the programme a priority for PCTs in 2007, there was a significant rise in activity and average testing levels reached 15.9 per cent in 2008/09, against a target of 17 per cent.
The NAO estimates that around £100m has been spent on the programme to date, but the report said PCTs had "little guidance on costs to help them deliver the programme efficiently".
The NAO said savings of £17m could have been made in 2008/09 if all PCTs had provided tests at a cost of £33 each – the NAO’s calculation of an achievable cost – rather than the average for that year of £56 per test.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: "To have a significant impact on chlamydia requires overall testing levels of 26 per cent or above. Only half of PCTs reached this level in 2008-09, six years after the programme’s launch."
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